History of Heironeous/Chapter 18
And it came to pass that on the morrow Salan donned the armour, and wore the helm, and the crest, and the tabard that he had been given in the vision, and took up the sword and shield, and went forth from his tent. #And the army of Salan looked upon him, and rejoiced, for he gave unto them hope, for he was armed and armoured for war, and looked not for surrender nor escape, but thirsted for victory. #And upon his shield was the emblem of the army, as it was upon every breastplate and shield of the army, being a bare fist, clutching a lightning bolt. #And his army cried with a loud voice, saying, The chosen of Heironeous is before us, and shall lead us into battle, and we shall conquer by the might of Hieroneous and his chosen. #And Salan and his army marched forth, and came unto a broad plain, and on the far side was the army of Hextor, and it did march out to meet them. #And it was one hour before noon when the armies stopped, and there was five hundred paces between them. #And Hextor came out, wielding six weapons in his six hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Come out, Heironeous, and face me, that we may decide this thing before our armies, which of us shall rule this land. #And the army of Hextor cheered, and waved their weapons, and the faces of the army of Hextor were hideous to behold, for the army was made of orcs, and ogres, and goblins, and hobgoblins, and demons, and devils, and all manner of fiends and of wicked creatures were in the army of Hextor, and they offered blasphemies to Heironeous on that day. #And Salan, first disciple of Heironeous, stepped forward, clad in the regalia of righteous war and the raiment of valour, to stand against Hextor. #And Salan cried with a loud voice, saying, Behold, Hextor, weak and foolish one, I, Salan, do defy thee, for Heironeous doth not bestir himself for one as insignificant as thee, and I am not as thy half-brother Stratis, whom thou murdered by stealth, but am as thy half-brother Heironeous, and will destroy thee again, as he hath done before. #And when Hextor heard these things, he waxed greatly wroth, yea, his anger was as the fury of the volcano, and he smote the ground with his weapons, and in his mouth was language so vile as to cause even the fiends in his ranks to blanch at the sound thereof. #And Hextor ran towards Salan, his six weapons raised high, that he might destroy Salan with a single blow, but when he swung, Salan stepped to one side, and the blows of Hextor missed, but Salan did not miss. #For Salan struck with the blade of Heironeous, and the blade stabbed deeply into the side of Hextor, and Hextor didst scream. #And at the scream of Hextor, his army did charge, yea, for the scream was a signal, and thus we see the falseness of evil, for at the first sign of danger didst Hextor breach the code of the field of honour, but sought to destroy his opponent through dishonourable means. #But the army of Salan was prepared, and when the army of Hextor ran towards the duel, the army of Salan didst charge also, that they might protect their general. #And great and terrible was the battle that day, for it did rage from the hour before noon until the going down of the sun, and the armies did retreat before the falling night, and did make camp. #Now the army of Salan recovered its wounded, and tended to them, but the army of Hextor did not recover its wounded, but left them to die on the battlefield, and great and terrible was the moaning of the dying all that night. #And on the morrow, with the first light of dawn, the battle began again, the might of Hextor against the might of the army of the free. #And as the sun descended, the army of the free prevailed, that they smote the army of Hextor, for Heironeous delivered them into their hands, and they didst drive them back, even unto the western sea shore. #And Salan and Hextor did fight, yea, blow for blow were they matched, but the blows of Hextor didst not strike Salan, but the blows of Salan did not miss Hextor, until Hextor bled from a thousand wounds. #And the army of Hextor and the army of Salan looked upon the duel, and they paused about their fighting, to see what would become of it, for Hextor and Salan were upon a high cliff, and the Sea of the West was below them, many hundred feet. #And Hextor swung at Salan, who dodged aside, that Hextor was between Salan and the sea, and Salan thought of the words of Heironeous, which he heard in his vision, and he ran towards the Scourge of Battle, and didst leap into the air, and thrust at him with all his might. #And the blade of Salan stabbed deep into the chest of Hextor, and Salan leapt into Hextor, and threw himself and Hextor from the cliff, and they fell into the sea. #Now when the army of Hextor saw this, they were sore afraid, and gazed upon the spot where their leader had fallen. #But when the army of Salan saw this, they took heart, for they knew that Heironeous was with them, and they charged the army of Hextor again and again, until they had destroyed them all, yea, and they spared not one of the army of Hextor, but slew them all. #And a group of them went down unto the sea shore, and recovered the body of Salan, and carried it in honour back to Aljerzon, but of the body of Hextor there was no sign. Category:History of Heironeous